Bizarre moment Tour de France rider snatches cardboard sign off stunned fan… but had brilliant reason for doing it ...Middle East

THIS is the baffling moment a cyclist snatched a cardboard sign off a stunned fan during the Tour de France.

In one of the highlights of an unremarkable Stage 14, Julian Alaphillippe was forced to take decisive action on Saturday.

But Alaphilippe, 33, had a brilliant reason for grabbing it.

The home hero nicked it to keep himself warm in the brutal conditions on the savage slopes of the Col du Tourmalet.

The spectator, who had scribbled of encouragement to his rival Wout van Aret, had reached for a cheeky handshake.

But it was the sign that Alaphilippe was after, with the cardboard tearing in half as the Frenchman disappeared up the rainy road.

He calmly placed the placard across his handlebars, ripped it into two smaller pieces, while tossing the scraps away.

Alaphilippe was then spotted unzipping his Tudor Pro cycling trisuit, before stuffing the sign inside, in a last ditch attempt to preserve body heat.

Former stage winner Zdenek Stybar said: “Julian is really suffering from the cold”.

The Tourmalet, the first of four brutal climbs, was living up to its fearsome reputation.

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And around 30km later, after the worst of the conditions had passed, Alaphilippe flagged down the camera motorbike.

He appeared to issue a roadside apology, before handing over the soggy remains of the sign.

It has since been revealed that Alaphilippe apologised to the fan later while meeting her and offering her a gift.

The two-time world champion Frenchman said: “In the end the story ended well, I apologised to the woman whom I took it from.

“I gave her a bib, and she took a picture with Wout. In the end, thanks to this, she had a better time compared to what she would have experienced at the top of the Tourmalet.”

It was a rare moment of drama on an otherwise savage day in the mountains, where Remco Evenepoel abandoned the race on the first climb.

Alaphilippe ultimately finished in 50th place, way behind maiden stage winner Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers), who held off Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).

Reigning champ Pogacar, who finished the stage second, marginally extended his commanding overall lead over Jonas Vingegaard.

Meanwhile, Alaphilippe was among a group of riders to receive medical attention after being caught up in a big crash on Stage 15 on Sunday.

General classification after Stage 14 of 21

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